Valka / Biography

Contents

Early Life

“

One night, a dragon broke into our house, finding you in the cradle. I rushed to protect you. But what I saw was proof of everything I believed. This wasn't a vicious beast, but an intelligent, gentle creature, whose soul reflected my own.[src]

”

— Valka, explaining the truth of her disappearance

Nothing is known of Valka's childhood. But in her upper teens, during a battle on Berk against the Berserkers under Oswald the Antagonistic, Valka fought them with only her fists, after which Stoick and Valka celebrated their victory by singing a song and dancing together. Stoick would later present to her a betrothal gift and then married her. Sometime after, when she was 20 they had a son, whom they named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. About fourteen years prior to the events of the first movie, it was revealed Valka had spent years protesting against the war with the dragons but no one on Berk ever listened to her. During one particular attack, a large four-winged dragon broke into the Haddock house, prompting Valka to rush in to protect an infant Hiccup. When she saw the Stormcutter however, she realized that it was not attacking but was instead merely curious about the human infant, even if accidentally giving him a small scratch in the process. The dragon then approached Valka and the two appeared to make a connection as she saw that everything she had believed about dragons was true. Stoick burst his way into the room and threw an ax in between the Stormcutter and Valka, thinking the dragon was threatening his family. Most likely thinking that Stoick was actually attacking Valka, the Stormcutter grabbed her and flew off with her in its grasp, leaving Stoick and the rest of Berk to believe she had been killed.

Valka was instead taken to the Dragon Sanctuary, the home to a giant white dragon known as the Bewilderbeast along with hundreds of other dragons. Valka decided to stay with the dragons, believing Stoick and Hiccup would be better off without her interference in the war between Viking and Dragon. Accepting the fact that Berk could not make peace with the dragon no matter how she had pleade. Valka soon made it her life's work to rescue other dragons from Drago Bludvist and his trappers. With the help of the dragon who brought her there, Cloudjumper, Valka spent the next 20 years learning the secrets of every dragon species out there.

Prior to the beginning of the second film, Valka had managed to break into Eret and his trappers' fort where she, Cloudjumper, and her Bewilderbeast destroyed it and freed the trapped dragons.[1]

Due to her presumed death, Valka doesn't appear in person during the first film or the subsequent television series but is mentioned several times.

During the events of the first film, Hiccup is given a helmet made from half of Valka's breastplate armor as a reward for his success in Dragon Training. Stoick's helmet is made from the other half to keep her close. In Gift of the Night Fury, a passing dragon knocks the helmet off Hiccup's head when he and Toothless are out flying. After Hiccup gives him a new tail that allows him to fly solo, Toothless flies off for nearly four days looking for it. During Toothless' absence, Stoick tries to comfort Hiccup, saying he knows what it's like to miss someone you love, referring to Valka.

It is revealed in "How to Pick Your Dragon" Stoick met Gobber after catching him talking to Valka. His first words to him were,"That's my wife you're talking to, you one-legged lout!".

"Breakneck Bog" is heavily focused on Valka. Hiccup and his friends search for a lost gift that she allegedly gave her son, a plush dragon toy with Hiccup's name stitched on the sides. When he was very young, Hiccup was afraid of dragons and resented the toy, prompting him to throw it in the sea one day while fishing. As Valka disappeared when Hiccup was still a baby, he later worried that he would forget about his mother, so the toy dragon now meant a lot to him.

Valka was brought up by Stoick in "Imperfect Harmony" when he and the council were discussing Hiccup's desire for exploring beyond the Archipelago. He mentioned how when she was taken away he never stopped searching for her and no one else stopped him.

In "Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 2", Stoick briefly mentioned how Valka was willing to feed him to wild boars when she found out that Gobber was making a baby-sized axe for Hiccup right after he was born.

Hiccup mentions in "Sandbusted" that the betrothal gift that he gives to Astrid had once been given to his mother by Stoick when they exchanged gifts at their betrothal.

Valka makes a brief appearance in the finale of Dragons: Race to the Edge before reuniting with her family or their learning that she's still alive. The Wingmaidens knew someone who knew Valka, and therefore knew she would be the ideal caretaker for a Bewilderbeast egg that her son had saved from Krogan, Johann, and Drago. As her adult Bewilderbeast would be more than 20 years old by this time, it is uncertain if the egg hatches to become an heir to her Bewilderbeast or simply a new charge.

20 years after her abduction, Valka and Cloudjumper encounter another rider on the back of a Night Fury, mistaking him for one of Drago's men or trappers. Using some of the other dragons that are flying with her, she captures the boy and brings him to a cave at the Sanctuary with the intent to interrogate him. Valka is intrigued by the boy's knowledge of dragons as he gently calms down her own dragons as they approach him. One of her dragons brings in the Night Fury and she is amazed by how close the pair of them are. Valka approaches them both, pacifying the Night Fury in submission before she notices the small scar on the young man's chin. Valka realizes that it is Hiccup, the son she thought she would never see again, questioning how it is possible before revealing her identity to him.

Valka shows Hiccup all the things she's learned about the dragons, including the existence of the Bewilderbeast and her work protecting the dragons. She also reveals the truth of when she disappeared and helps both Hiccup and Toothless learn new skills to aid in their flying. Regretful for how she had not been there for him during his childhood, she asks her son for a chance to start over, a chance that Hiccup happily accepts. However, despite her renewed relationship with Hiccup, she refuses to help him in his quest to find Drago.

Later, Valka is reunited with Stoick and Gobber after the pair of them follow Hiccup in an attempt to bring him home. Expecting Stoick to be mad at her, Valka tries to justify her reasons for not returning home, that the people of Berk could not change and believing Hiccup would be better off without her. But Stoick is only moved to see her again, which causes her to cry. While Valka is still initially uneasy to be around Stoick again, her uncertainty fades when he begins to sing a song from years before. Stoick asks Valka to come home, which she accepts.

However, the family reunion is cut short when Drago and his army attack the Sanctuary. Valka, her family and the den's dragons join her to defend themselves against Drago and save the dragons under his capture. She has a brief skirmish with Drago who reveals that he has a Bewilderbeast of his own. After Valka's Bewilderbeast is killed in the ensuing fight between the two dragons, Drago orders his Bewilderbeast to finish her but she is saved from death after Stoick intervenes. From afar, Valka watches as Drago forces Toothless to turn against Hiccup thanks to the Bewilderbeast and becomes heartbroken when Stoick sacrifices himself to save Hiccup from the dragon's fire. She attempts to quell her son's grief, knowing that Toothless was forced to do the act against his own will. Valka acts as one of the Vikings who perform the traditional ceremony for Stoick, using her bow to set his ship on fire. Even with all the dragons being taken by Drago, as well as her husband's death, Valka still comforts Hiccup, encouraging him that he is the only one who can bring the world of Vikings and dragons together.

Valka, Hiccup and the other dragon riders ride the baby Scuttleclaws to Berk and sees that Drago has frozen most of the island with his Bewilderbeast. She watches with encouragement as Hiccup frees Toothless from Drago's control until the two of them are frozen in the Alpha's ice. Though Valka initially fears her son's death, she watches in astonishment as Toothless breaks Hiccup and himself free from the ice with a unique blast. She is again astonished as Toothless challenges the Alpha to protect Hiccup and eventually triumphs over Drago and his Bewilderbeast. Now reunited with Cloudjumper, Valka fulfills her promise of moving to Berk along with all her dragons from the Sanctuary.

Valka spoke to her son about the tribe's slow acceptance of Hiccup as their new chief. She then welcomed Calder to Berk and told him the news about Stoick's death.

She then goes with the riders in their mission on Nepenthe. On the way to there, the riders are accompanied by Tidal Class dragons and Valka states that they are offering tribute to their new alpha.

On the island, Valka notices how Berk's dragons are the only ones on the island. At dinner, she is shocked when she sees Calder's tatoos of dragon scales. She is then captured by his men.

In the prison, she states that Calder didn't care about his people and that it was all a trick to get Hiccup on the island. She then prepares to leave the island, but right then some Foreverwings wake up and began destroying the village. She is surprised by this, as she thought they were only a myth. She then helps by disarming the people, preventing them from hurting the dragons. After Hiccup defeats Calder, she arrives at the scene to see what happened.

Back on Berk, she listens to Hiccup speech to the village. Later, she tells Hiccup to go to sleep as she recognises how tired he is. He then answers that first things first he has to rule, with Valka sensing the "first things first" part coming.

While being sealed in a cave along with Gobber and the dragon riders, Valka tells how she fell in love with Stoick when Astrid asked her. She also said that Astrid is the daughter she and Stoick always wanted.

Valka becomes trapped on an unnamed island with the Dragon Riders, Gobber, and Eret. After getting out of the cave, the group fight off frenzied spider-like dragons called Silkspanners with their weapons lighted on fire with Nightmare gel, including Valka's Staff. After fending the dragons off, Valka returns to Berk with Snotlout and Fishlegs, where she consults Skulder the Archaeologist and the Dragon Cry to find out more information about the Silkspanners. They find out that they eat Dragonvine, which is deadly to all other dragons, then return to the other Riders to relay the news.

Valka was introduced in School of Dragons when "Return to Dragon Island" expansion pack was released. She replaces Stoick in the game, as most of his quests became Valka's.

During the quest "A Gift for Hiccup", she wants to follow the Berk's tradition and offers to Hiccup a battle axe made by Gobber.

In another quest called "For My Son, Hiccup", she wants to give Hiccup ink for drawings, commenting how he is so much like her. She asks the player to speak to Heather for ink. Later, she asks the player to distract Hiccup while she puts the gift near the Fight Club tower.

During the quest called "A Sickly Dragon", Valka finds Thornado, who has an upset stomach and asks the player to speak to the Botanist. Phlegma suggests a mint tea, which the player makes with Heather's help.

During the "Wrath of Stormheart" Expansion, Nikora Stormheart unleashes multiple attacks all over the Archipelago to distract everyone from her main goal - taking over Auction Island. Harald Forkbeard commands Nikora's ship, The Tempest and attacks Berk at the Berk Docks. Valka's flies in and commands from atop Cloudjumper and, along with the player, defends Berk and sends Harald into retreat.

Valka offers sage advice via Terror Mail to a new Rider-Dragon pair - Scribbler and Patch. She advises him that Eir Stormheart must be stopped to prevent dragons from further becoming 'living weapons'. She wishes the blessings of the Gods upon Scribbler's and Patch's quest.